At the Seeding Labs panel “Better Together: Biomedical Science at a Crossroads and International Collaboration as a Way to Move Forward,” equitable, effective partnership and collaboration between Boston and other countries took center stage.
On December 11, 2025, Seeding Labs convened experts from academia, industry, nonprofit, and philanthropy at the Ragon Institute in Cambridge, MA, to discuss efforts to build a world where everyone benefits from biomedical research.
Led by Seeding Labs Board Chair Chad Jackson, PhD, the first panel focused on the Boston side of Boston-Africa international partnerships for strengthening local biomedical capacity.
Al Ozonoff, PhD, Director of Pandemic Preparedness at the Broad Institute, spoke on the Sentinel Project. The project, for which Ozonoff serves as U.S. Director, is a collaboration between Dr. Pardis Sabeti of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA and Dr. Christian Happi at the Institute of Genomics and Global Health at Redeemer’s University in Nigeria. Together, these institutes train local public health workers in pandemic preparedness across the African continent.
The panel’s other expert, Michelle Niescierenko, MD, spoke of her work with Boston Children’s Hospital, where she serves as Director of the Global Health Program. Her program has spent years building partnerships to ensure that children have improved clinical quality in over 30 countries worldwide.
Dr. Ozonoff and Dr. Niescierenko shared the challenge of navigating the power dynamics of being typically more-resourced partners, placing collaborators on an inherently inequitable footing.
Ultimately, the success of the partnerships relies on establishing trust-based relationships. For Dr. Ozonoff, building trust equates to building infrastructure, and you need to invest the time. There are no shortcuts. Dr. Niescierenko emphasized how coming to the partnerships with trust in the commitment of the partners. “Every partner has their own politics,” said Niescierenko, “and we’re not here to cast judgment whether they’re doing well or they’re not doing well. We just need to know we have the right people at the table.”
Continuing the conversation, the second panel focused on what it means to build capacity for science everywhere. Moderated by Seeding Labs Board member Aravinda Souza, the panel featured global changemakers focused on vaccine and drug development and the future of philanthropy for global development.
Jonathan Spector, MD, has spent his career in pediatrics and public health. He currently works on access to medicines in developing countries as the Head of Global Health Strategy and Access at Novartis Biomedical Research. Speaking of his work in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), he reflected, “Building capacity also includes the practice of doing science together with partners in LMICs. This maybe is the most important. Everyone learns. We learn, the partners learn, and then there’s a meaningful output that comes out on the other end, of course.”
Krish Ramanathan, PhD, Chief of Staff at the Gates Medical Research Institute, agreed. Citing his work to increase access to vaccines worldwide, Ramanathan recognized the challenges of building capacity for vaccine development in specific locations around the world. “The inherent challenge with R&D in pharma is it’s a risky business, and it’s capital intensive,” he said. But he also highlighted the opportunities for collaboartion, saying, “So we’re trying to see if we can bring in local actors who can then participate in this and find a more efficient way of channeling these investments.”
And in an inspiring call to action, Ina Breuer, Executive Director of the Network of Engaged International Donors, called on the audience to reimagine what the future can look like when traditional sources of funding have been eliminated. Acknowledging the blow that global development took with American foreign aid cuts, Breuer asked difficult questions of the audience:
The event was a reminder that now is the time to ensure that everyone has access to the benefits of science. And that the best way forward is through international collaboration. Seeding Labs Board Member Harvey Lodish, PhD, emphasized the point in his closing remarks, reminding the audience, “There is a lot of opportunity. Yes, much of it needs large philanthropic support and multi-government agencies, but some of it can be done on a one-to-one basis.”
Whether collaborating on vaccine development, pandemic preparedness, better pediatric care, or stronger research institutions, the panelists had a simple message: we can and should build capacity for science in every corner of the world.
Note: Seeding Labs is grateful to Novartis for sponsoring this important conversation about the challenges ahead for international development and the global R&D landscape.
